On a rainy night, the school beauty knocked on my door and asked for shelter

Wang Lan's actions gave everyone a great sense of security.

The girls, seeing Wang Lan's back view, suddenly felt that he was much taller and more reliable.

As Zhang Yang approached, Chen Mo remained calm, shielding Su Yuqing slightly behind him and watching Zhang Yang walk towards them.

"Senior, if you have any problems, come at me. These two are my good brothers. Their problems are my problems. I'll solve them for you!" Seeing Zhang Yang approach, Wang Lan spoke first, showing no fear whatsoever.

They are truly loyal brothers.

Shen Xinghe rarely smiled, gently patted his shoulder, took a step forward and said, "It's okay, I can handle it myself. I'll come to you if I can't handle it anymore."

Clearly, he has accepted Wang Lan's brotherhood and has taken on this favor.

Chen Mo smiled and stepped forward, "Me too."

Seeing that the situation was getting tense, Zhang Yang stopped in front of the group, his gaze sweeping over Chen Mo and Shen Xinghe. He touched his nose and said somewhat awkwardly, "Um... you've misunderstood. I didn't come here to cause trouble. Chen Mo, Shen Xinghe, I have something I'd like to discuss with you. Could we talk in private for a moment?"

Upon hearing his words, Chen Mo and Shen Xinghe exchanged a surprised glance.

Judging from his attitude, he really doesn't seem like he's here to cause trouble.

Since that was the case, the two who had just enrolled naturally did not want to cause any trouble. They immediately exchanged glances, ready to listen to what this senior, whom they had previously utterly humiliated, wanted to see them about!
Chen Mo and Shen Xinghe exchanged a glance, nodded, and followed Zhang Yang a few steps to the side, arriving at a slightly secluded place.

Although Wang Lan suppressed her obvious hostility, she still looked over there warily, as if she was ready to rush in at any moment.

Su Yuqing and the others watched with some nervousness.

"What is it? Speak," Chen Mo said calmly.

Zhang Yang rubbed his hands together, his embarrassment deepening. He lowered his voice and said, "Um... you guys saw the posts on the forum, right?"

"I've heard a little about it," Shen Xinghe replied casually.

"Sigh, to be honest," Zhang Yang sighed, looking somewhat annoyed, "that post exposed a few of us, and it's spread way too far. Our classmates and teachers all know about it, and the comments below are... kind of ugly."

We're supposed to be upperclassmen, and members of the basketball club too. If this continues, we'll really lose face.

Chen Mo and Shen Xinghe remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

Zhang Yang glanced around, lowering his voice even further: "So... I was thinking, could you guys do me a favor? Let's arrange another match, a proper one, three against three or five against five, it's fine. And... could you go easy on us a little and let us win, so we can at least save face a bit? Of course, I won't let you help for nothing; you can name your conditions!"
After all, you're just doing this as a hobby, while we're a professional group. Your loss won't have any serious consequences, but our loss will have a huge impact. We beg you two brothers to give us a way out.

After he finished speaking, he looked at the two of them with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation.

In his view, this was a compromise that saved face for them, without causing any loss to the other party, and they might even gain some benefits.

Chen Mo and Shen Xinghe exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of understanding and weighing of options in each other's eyes. As freshmen, there was really no need to make enemies with their seniors over a trivial streetball game.

Since the other party has taken the initiative to lower their stance and request "discussion," offering them a way out is indeed a wiser choice.

Shen Xinghe nodded almost imperceptibly.

Chen Mo had already made up his mind. His expression softened, even showing a hint of understanding as he looked at Zhang Yang and said, "Senior, we've seen what happened on the forum, and we can understand the trouble this post has caused you..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang's tense expression immediately relaxed, and he quickly nodded: "Yes, yes, the brothers really felt embarrassed, so we shamelessly came to discuss this with you."

Chen Mo continued, "We understand how you feel, senior. It's just a friendly match; there's no need to make things unpleasant for everyone. If a 'friendly match' can save face for everyone, we have no problem with it."

He didn't directly say "fixed match," but used the term "friendly match," thus agreeing to the other party's request while also saving face for both sides.

Seeing Chen Mo agree, Zhang Yang's eyes lit up instantly. He looked at Shen Xinghe excitedly and asked, "Where's Brother Xinghe?"

Shen Xinghe chimed in calmly, his tone still indifferent, but lacking the previous aloofness: "Yes. You decide the time and place, just let me know in advance. However..."

He changed the subject slightly, looking at Zhang Yang, "It's best to make the scene as natural as possible; being too obvious will only give people something to criticize."

Upon hearing that both of them had agreed, Zhang Yang was overjoyed and immediately patted his chest to assure them, "Don't worry about that! We understand! We'll arrange everything perfectly, making it look like a normal sparring match where we just got lucky and narrowly won! We definitely won't make things difficult for you two juniors!"

He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. The two freshmen in front of him were not only capable, but also quite adept at interpersonal relationships, which greatly increased his goodwill towards them.

"By the way, what are your conditions? Just name them, and we'll do everything we can to help you." With a huge weight lifted from his heart, Zhang Yang spoke with much more confidence.

Chen Mo and Shen Xinghe exchanged a glance; clearly, neither of them had decided what benefits they wanted.

"We don't seem to have any conditions to mention for now. If you encounter any problems in the future and need our help, I hope you will remember your promise today." Chen Mo smiled and extended his hand.

Zhang Yang immediately gripped Chen Mo's hand tightly, then turned to Shen Xinghe, who also reached out and gently shook his hand.

"Thank you both, brothers! I'll remember this favor! If you need any help at school in the future, just let me know!" Zhang Yang said sincerely, the gloom on his face vanishing.

He even took out his phone, recorded his promise, added Chen Mo and Shen Xinghe on WeChat, and sent the promise to them.

"This video will serve as evidence in case I break the contract later," Zhang Yang said with a smile to the two of them.

"You're too kind, senior." Seeing how considerate the other person was, Chen Mo couldn't help but return the smile politely.

Once the matter was settled, the atmosphere between the two sides immediately became harmonious.

Zhang Yang exchanged a few more pleasantries before leaving with his teammates, completely satisfied. (End of Chapter)